Great Britain

This is the full story — as it happened


At dawn on dune 6th, 1944 Allied troops stormed ashore on the beaches of Normandy to start the long bloody crusade which eventually took them into the heartland of Germany to topple the “1000 Year Reich.” This is a unique record of that dramatic story: THE DECISION TO INVADE How Operation Overlord was conceived. DECEPTION How the allies fooled the German Generals for months. THE FRENCH RESISTANCE The secret maps that were stolen from under the noses of the Germans. THE NAVY The world’s greatest armada. THE BATTLE FOR THE SKIES Air supremacy for the RAF and US Air Force. THE PARAS GO IN The capture and holding of the key Pegasus bridge and the Merville Battery. STORMING THE BEACHES The heroic assault by the British, the Canadians and the Americans. A GERMAN VIEW The personal story of a U Boat commander ordered up the channel. CAEN Storming the gateway to Europe. Forty years on the Queen, President Reagan, and world leaders return to the beaches to commemorate one of the greatest feats of arms in the history of mankind. This is the full story as it happened.